


Roses, Yellow and Red

by Stecayl



Category: Tam Lin (Traditional Ballad)
Genre: Complicated Relationships, F/M, Post-Canon, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-06 08:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21223232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stecayl/pseuds/Stecayl
Summary: He isn't much of a husband, her Tam Lin.Whumptober Day 25: Humiliation





	Roses, Yellow and Red

He isn't much of a husband, her Tam Lin. He doesn't know a thing about land management or farming; he's spent most of his life in a place where the food appeared at the wave of a hand, where there's no need for farms, where his only duty was to decorate the court. The tenants quickly realize there isn't much sense or substance behind Tam's charming smiles and sweet words. If it weren't for Janet keeping an eye on things, they'd take advantage of him all the time.  
  
He isn't much use with their son, either. He alternates between treating their son as if he's made of glass, trembling at every tantrum or scrape of the knee, and indulging every childish whim. He gives their son sweets, reprieve from his lessons, a riding pony. Left to his own devices, he'd ruin the boy.  
  
Even her father, mild as he is, has ventured a few looks of reproach at Tam. He won't say it, but he questions her judgment in choosing a husband; Tam Lin may be her son's true father, but there's no shortage of gentlemen who would have claimed another man's bastard for the chance to wed her father's estate. Sometimes, she wonders herself if she should have taken one of them.  
  
Still, when the neighboring laird pulls her aside, his eyes soft with pity and his hands reaching for her waist, telling her how sad he is it is to see a woman so fine with a buffoon, she shoves him away.  
  
She smiles, slow and cool, and her eyes cut like a knife between the ribs. The laird falters, taking a step back.  
  
"Even if my husband is a fool," she says. "I'd still rather have him than you."  
  
Whatever else she may be, Janet is true.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on FFA: https://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/394460.html?thread=2322656988#cmt2322656988


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